making beetroot and chocolate cupcakes

These beetroot and chocolate cupcakes went down a storm at a bring-and-share lunch on Saturday.  I found the recipe on the Ooffoo website after posting up my spinach and aubergine lasagne last month.  The funny thing is that the muffin recipe was posted by Mrs Green, a name you may recognise from comments on my blog, whose My Zero Waste blog chronicles her families commitment to recycling and reducing their household waste.  Discovering one of Mrs Green’s recipes was like bumping into an old friend and since the last of my allotment beets were also looking ‘sad‘ in the bottom of the fridge I decided to give the muffins a try.  My beets had been destined for soup but to be honest I was quite relieved to find an alternative –  I can’t can’t quite get my head, or stomach, round the idea of hot purple slurp.  They certainly won’t be left languishing so long next time and this recipe would be ideal for using up those larger, tougher beetroots that often end up on the compost heap.

The original recipe is no longer available on line and I’d adjusted the quantities anyway around the amount of beetroot I had and got 12 cupcakes and a 9” cake out of this much mixture.  I used a melted a bar of dark chocolate instead of cocoa and reduced the quantity of sugar a little.  You’ll not be disappointed with these muffins; they’re beautifully moist and light and a rich chocolatey brown colour which retains the purple hue of the beetroot.  And Mrs Green adds ‘here is a great snack for kids.  Full of the chocolatey sweet taste they want, but with some cunning raisins and beetroot added so that you can help them achieve their 5-a-day quota!’ 

To make beetroot and chocolate cupcakes
300g self raising flour
100g bar of dark chocolate or cocoa powder
280g caster sugar
110g raisins
3 eggs
300ml oil
375g blended cooked beetroot (about 6-10 beets depending on size)

• • Pre heat oven to 190°c
  • Cook the beetroot until soft and then blend with a hand mixer
  • Sift the flour (and cocoa powder if using) into a bowl and add the sugar and raisins. Mix well.
  • In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs into the oil.  Add the cooked beetroot and mix well.
  • Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix everything together lightly.
  • Spoon the mix into muffin cases or cake tins and bake for 20-25 minutes until brown and risen.

ps. …about that 9” cake.  I was going to embark on my maiden freezing of baked goods but having given all the cupcakes away it was the least I could do to let George have the cake! 
Update – I posted this recipe again in 2018 using less sugar – click here if you’d prefer to see that post